Sunday, April 21, 2013

Spotlight On: Octagon Cleaning and Restoration

There are things that most people would refuse to deal with concerning their homes. Some would move before tackling a mold issue, but when homeowners are standing knee deep in water and there’s mold crawling up their walls, Robert York and his team at Octagon Cleaning and Restoration arrive on scene to save the day.

“It’s a less than glamorous business, but there was a lot of growth potential,” said owner York. When he started the business in September of 2002, it was as Mainly Cleaning Services doing commercial floor and carpet cleaning. Now they concentrate on water damage projects, water extraction and other restoration projects. In 2005, York went to get properly trained in the business and did a certification program.

Now their business consists of 90 percent mold work, remediation projects and water damage, York said. He also hired Dave Brooks, who has 13 years of experience in cleaning heating and cooling systems. “Our focus is indoor air cleaning and quality,” said York.

Octagon employs 15 people, 10 of them full-time.

“We are a 24-hour emergency service based mold remediation business,” he said.

Their job is to clean and sanitize buildings to prepare for reconstruction. When a homeowner or their insurance company calls, someone from Octagon has to be on the scene within 24-hours with drying materials in place. Octagon employees with travel anywhere in Maine and New Hampshire.

“It’s a delicate balance between scheduled and emergency projects,” said York.

When going into a job site, they are fully prepared with full-face masks and protective gear, according to York. One place they cleaned had pipes that burst three months before the problem was found. When they finally got into the condo the mold looked like a giant beard and there were mushrooms growing out of the carpets.

“It’s very rewarding to go into something completely inhabitable, that 99 percent of people would sell and move out of, and making it good, habitable again,” said York. “It’s a miserable process, but we’re good at what we do.”

Usually, Octagon has on average four remediation jobs going at a time, but during the Patriot’s Storm a few years ago, they had 50 jobs at once.

They do fire damage cleaning, foreclosure cleaning, mold-hygienic cleaning, attic mold cleaning on top of the other types of jobs they do.

If a property is improperly dried it can cause health issues down the road, even to the point of causing death. There are many checks and balances for Octagon with third-party testing and verification.

For more information, visit www.octagonrestoration.com or call 893-0002.